nook

Barnes & Noble has slammed shut the loophole allowing NOOK Tablet owners to install third-party apps, pushing out a new firmware update - v1.4.1 - that closes the door on all but the retailer's own, approved software. Described as making "minor system enhancements" to the Android-based ereader by B&N itself, the software significantly limits the general usefulness of the NOOK Tablet for those wanting to do more than basic reading and browsing.

Barnes & Noble issued its fiscal Q2 2012 earnings report today, revealing its Nook line of products to be a $220 million business, while its latest Nook Tablet has become the company's fastest selling device to date. However, even with the success of its Nook sales, the company overall faced a net loss of $6.6 million this past quarter.

If you are looking for a new eReader for yourself or for someone on your holiday list and you want it to be a bit different B&N has a limited edition in store only version of the Nook Simple Touch eReader. The limited edition version is available in stores only while supplies last. The features and hardware inside the Simple Touch are the same as always.

This past month or so we've seen heavy coverage of several smaller-sized tablets bent on providing users with no less than a full cloud-based media experience, the most recognizable of which is the brand new Nook Tablet - and today we get to see right down deep into its guts! The fine bust-up team at ifixit have done it again with the next-generation Barnes & Noble reader device, this one the direct decedent of the NOOK Color, a device we spent a full week reviewing piece by piece when it was revealed last year at around this time. Now with the Nook Tablet popping up in stores just in time for the holiday season 2011, what better way to celebrate than chopping it to pieces?

Barnes & Noble's NOOK Tablet has been rooted, allowing the 7-inch $249 slate to run the Android Market among other improvements. Although sideloading Android apps has been left straightforward on the NOOK Tablet, the device ships without full Android Market access; Liliputing has pulled together various guides and methods from the clever modders at Xda-developers that help correct that.

Cheap, branded Android tablets have come of age in time for the 2011 holidays, and Barnes & Noble is hoping the NOOK Tablet can lead the pack. With a $249 price tag that makes the 7-inch slate half the cost of an iPad 2, Apple's tablet may not be the specific target but those looking for straightforward email, web browsing, multimedia and, not least, ebook reading could well decide the NOOK Tablet offers everything they need on a budget. Read on for our unboxing and some hands-on first impressions.

The Kobo e-reader, which currently competes with Amazon's Kindle and the Barnes & Noble Nook, may be getting a boost soon with new backing from Japan's version of Amazon, a large e-commerce operator called Rakuten. The Japanese company is purchasing Kobo for $315 million and intends to rapidly grow its user base around the world.

At an event that was very clearly aimed directly at the Kindle Fire this week, Barnes & Noble revealed their next-generation NOOK, named the NOOK Tablet and looking just as lovely as the original NOOK Color. So similar, in fact, that it's essentially the same design save the innards which are twice as powerful and the TINY change in chassis that makes it ever so slightly lighter and thinner. Below have a look at some hands-on accounts with the device from around the web.

The gauntlet has been thrown down today by Barnes & Noble with a device by the name of NOOK Tablet, an upgrade of their NOOK Color e-reader, a release here clearly aimed directly at Amazon's recently revealed Kindle Fire. What's been revealed this week is several upgrades from the NOOK Color to the new NOOK Tablet including a lighter chassis, a larger processor, and a whole new reassurance that you'll be running find with Nook Cloud for cloud storage. How does this add up against the Kindle Fire? Barnes and Noble CEO William J Lynch Jr has a few words to say on the subject, I assure you.

Barnes & Noble has slashed the price of the NOOK Color, bringing the touchscreen Android-based tablet to directly compete with the Amazon Kindle Fire at $199.99. Slotting into the middle-ground between the new NOOK Tablet and the reduced NOOK Simple Touch, the NOOK Color will also get a firmware update in December that B&N calls its "largest ever." Read on for all the change details.